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Penn State’s buck(s) stop with Franklin

Ultimately who is responsible for being outcoached, unprepared and outplayed? Yes, coaches coach and players play, but who is ultimately responsible for two-thirds of this equation? I went to the Rose Bowl in 2016 and to the Outback Bowl (vs. Kentucky) two years later and decided, no more bowl games and no more away games. James Franklin’s coaching inabilities taught me that even if all talent and circumstances are equal, he will not position his team to have a fair chance at victory. This time, indeed, the opponent man-for-man was the superior team on the field. Drew ...

Swift part of this year’s Newby awards

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press In a year when “Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated the Oscars, Taylor Swift took that theme to a whole new level before 2023 was done. We’re not even talking about the mammoth tour or the blockbuster movie or the overwrought fan base. This was The Year of Traylor. When Swift hooked up with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, the world’s two most unstoppable forces — Swifties and NFL aficionados — were suddenly joined as one. We’ll likely never be the same again. With that in mind, the 11th annual Newby Awards ...

1969 Orange Bowl lifted PSU profile: Behind the Nittany Lions’ unlikely comeback that defeated Kansas

Saint Francis University Communications Professor Pat Farabaugh is currently writing a book on Penn State undefeated 1969 football season. It was the last game of the 1968 season — the Orange Bowl game against Kansas on Jan. 1, 1969 — that served notice to fans across the country that there was a program in the East that was building something special. Below is an excerpt from Farabaugh’s forthcoming book on that Orange Bowl game, one that will mark its 55th anniversary on Jan. 1. Less than 24 hours after ringing in the start of a new year, the Penn State football program ...

Nostalgia, tradition play big role in sports

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror Despite claims by colds and flu, this is primarily peak season for nostalgia. In the weeks that span Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, traditions, customs and decorations revive sentiments and memories from times in one’s life that were especially meaningful. In similar ways, sport has imbedded itself in the identity of fans across the generations. From throwback uniforms and ballpark architecture to vintage fan apparel and special events, such as the NHL’s outdoor games, nostalgia takes various forms as influencer of fan behavior and ...

Time for Belichick to leave before he’s shoved out the door

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press This is starting to feel like Tom Landry’s final days as an NFL coach, just before he was ingloriously put out to pasture. Or maybe it will be more akin to Don Shula, who trudged into a retirement that seemed forced on him. Athletes rarely know when it’s time to go, and that unwillingness to face reality certainly applies to coaches, too. Which brings us to Bill Belichick. He’s stubborn and ornery and downright defiant about his future, insisting that he’s looking no farther than New England’s upcoming game against the ...

No peace on earth for pro golf this year

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press So much for peace and harmony in the world of golf. Jon Rahm’s surprising defection from the PGA Tour to Saudi-funded LIV shows just how fractured the sport remains, even as it faces an end-of-the-year deadline to finalize an agreement that was supposed to make everything kumbaya. Only one thing is clear: The idea that two tours can somehow co-exist to the benefit of both is ludicrous. It’s never worked in any other sport, and there’s no reason to think that the PGA Tour and LIV can somehow walk this perilous tightrope. There’s ...